From the Heart
by YellowGumDrop
Summary: This is my first attempt at fin fic. I hope you enjoy the crime of the week and the continuation of Steve and Cath's story. I hope you like my first chapter.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

He woke up like clockwork; every morning at 5am. He rubbed his eyes a few times and kicked off the sheets from his bed. He threw on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, ran down the stairs and grabbed his shoes before exiting the house from the back door to go for his morning workout. He did his usual; a 40-minute run followed by 30 minutes of swimming in the ocean. He loved this time of the day; just him taking in the beauty of the island before heading into work, which was at Hawaii 5-0 Headquarters. He prided himself on being the leader of such an amazing task force and he considered his team members as family or 'ohana'; Danny, Chin, Kono, and Lou. Recently they added Jerry Ortega to the team as a consultant. Jerry was quirky and odd but he really helped them out on a couple of cases.

He grabbed the towel hanging on the back of the deck chair and quickly dried himself off before entering the house. He checked his phone for messages and seeing that there were none, he headed upstairs to take a shower. As he was getting in, he realized he had run out of soap. He opened the top drawer of his vanity and it's the first thing he saw. Her toothbrush. He stared at it for a few long seconds not being able to tear his eyes from it. He didn't know why he hadn't thrown it away. Maybe, deep down, he was hoping that she would come back to him but he knew she wasn't. She had made it pretty clear to him that he wasn't enough to get her to stay in Hawaii with him. She said she needed more. She had broken his heart with those three words; shattered it into pieces. He was planning to propose to her the day she left; she had left him speechless with her decision. He just didn't get it. He was so confused. The first time she didn't come back to him, it was because she decided to stay in Afghanistan to find Najib, the son of Amir. Amir risked his life and that of his family's by rescuing her and nursing her back to health when she was stationed there a couple of years ago, so he understood her desire to return the favour and ensure that Najib was returned safely to his family. When she returned home for Kono's wedding, he thought they were finding their way back to each other; all the signs were pointing in the right direction and he was feeling optimistic about their relationship and then out of nowhere she dropped the bomb that she was leaving again, this time to Nepal to do some aid work. She said she needed to feel needed. Didn't she realize that he needed her? But she chose to leave him again and this time he had told her he wouldn't wait for her. He couldn't. He couldn't risk her coming back and then leaving yet again. He just couldn't go through with that pain and hurt all over again. He really thought they had a good thing going but what the hell did he know? He wiped both of his eyes forcefully with the back of his hand, grabbed the bar of soap and slammed the drawer hard before getting in the shower.

He sat down at his desk and opened his laptop. He grabbed the file he needed and started typing. He didn't finish writing his report last night because they had wrapped up the case so late and he was exhausted. He was in the middle of a sentence when he heard a tap on his door. He looked up to see his partner, Danny, waving and smiling at him.

Danny opened the door, walked in, and said, "Morning Steve!"

"Morning Danny", Steve replied. "You're awfully chipper this morning, which is so not like you. What's up?"

"What's up is that I get to spend the weekend with Charlie. Rachel has graciously allowed me to spend the entire weekend, and I mean the entire weekend; Saturday and Sunday with my son, which really shouldn't be considered that gracious considering he is my son and she kept him from me for the first 3 years of his life. You know, I just don't get it Steve. How could she lie about me being his father? I mean she used the whole 'you're a cop' and 'it's dangerous' excuse but why is that an issue all of a sudden? I've always been a cop. It's not like I worked in an office and then one day decided to become a cop. I'm a good guy, I work hard, I mean if I was an ex-con or something, you know, I'd understand but…."

Steve cut him off. "Danny, Danny, " His buddy had a tendency to ramble and he just didn't have the time for it today. "That's great. I am happy for you buddy."

"Thanks partner," Danny replied with a huge grin as he fished in his pocket for his phone. "I am going to call Gabrielle and see if she can arrange a private tour of the museum for us."

"You do that," Steve answered, smiling and shaking his head as he returned to writing his report.

Danny left Steve's office as he scrolled through his phone for Gabrielle's number and joined Kono, Chin, and Grover at the 'smart'' table, this is where all the cool technology tools were that helped them to solve their cases.

As he heard the three of them chatting about reality TV of all things, he called Gabrielle and she was more than happy to comply with his request of giving Charlie a personal tour of her museum.

"Thank you so much, I really owe you one," Danny said, "Charlie will love it!"

As he was ending his phone call, Steve came out of his office to join them at the table.

"Hey guys, what's up? How's everyone doing after last night?" Steve asked.

"Tired but I'm good," Chin replied.

"Ya, me too, just glad we caught the son of a bitch," Grover said roughly.

"It was a close one but thanks to Max finding that clue on the body, we got our guy," Kono said nodding her head.

"Gotta love Max!" Grover smiled, "always comes through for us."

"Ya, he really knows what he's doing," Steve agreed. Then he turned to Danny. "So, did she say yes?"

"Yes, yes she did. We are booked for 5 o'clock Saturday afternoon and then dinner," Danny replied spreading his arms wide.

"What's going on?" Kono asked.

"Oh, just Danny, trying for the 'Daddy of the Year' award," Steve said with a smile spreading across his face as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Hey, for the record, I just found out he's my son…," Danny started..

"Relax man, I'm just kidding," Steve replied, "I think it's great; you're going to have fun. Just be yourself, or on second thought….", his voice trailed off.

Grover was just about to say something when Steve's cell phone rang.

"Hold that thought Lou," Steve said as he answered the call. "McGarrett."

Steve listened for a few seconds and then stated, "We'll be there in five."

He ended the call and said, "We gotta go. We've caught a case. One of those contestants on that celebrity cooking show was found dead this morning."

"You mean 'Pulp Kitchen'? Kono asked.

"What a terrible name," Danny said shaking his head, trying not to laugh.

"Ya, that one. Let's go," Steve said as he headed towards the door.

"We were just talking about that show, how about that," Grover said as he followed Steve.

"Oh my God, I hope it's not Chris, he's so hot," Kono said as she tucked her hair behind her ears.

Chin was the last one to follow them out the door laughing and shaking his head, thinking how entertaining this team could be sometimes.

As they arrived at the victim's home, they saw several officers questioning witnesses while some of them were cornering off the crime scene with the standard yellow tape.

"What do we got Duke?" Steve asked as he approached the veteran police officer.

"Victim's name is Samantha Newman; she's a contestant on that cooking show. Her daughter found her in the kitchen this morning when she returned home. Multiple stab wounds and a blow to the head."

"Returned home? Where was she last night?" Steve asked.

"She was at a friend's house. They were working late on a school project and she decided to just sleepover. The son was at dad's," Duke replied.

"At dad's?" Danny asked raising an eyebrow.

"Parents are separated and he spend the night with the dad."

"Let's see what else we can find," Steve said as they ducked under the yellow tape and headed towards the house.

"No sign of forced entry," Steve observed as he examined the front door. They entered the home and headed towards the direction of the kitchen.

The kitchen was double the size of McGarrett's. I guess that made sense considering she was a budding chef. There was a huge marble island in the centre of the room with four bar stools. To the left of the island was a small breakfast table with a basket of lemons and limes in the centre. The cupboards spanned the entire back wall with a huge apron sink separating them in half.

Above the sink was a huge arched Roman shade window looking into backyard. The stainless steel fridge, the 6-burner gas stove, and the double ovens were to the right of island. The fridge was plastered with pictures of two kids.

Samantha's body was sprawled in front of the sink and Max was learning over her examining her body.

"What do you have Max?" Danny asked.

"From my preliminary examination, looks like the stab wounds were the cause of death but she also had a blow to the head so I won't be able to confirm anything until I complete my examination back at the office."

"How many stab wounds, Max?" Steve asked.

Max shook his head, "It's pretty bad Commander; I counted 20."

"20?", Steve repeated shocked. "That's personal."

"And overkill; do you know what the killer used to hit her over the head?" Danny asked Max looking around the kitchen.

"I'm not sure but my best guess is some sort of skillet but I don't see it in the room and we haven't found it in any of the cupboards. I'll know more once I complete the autopsy.

Steve shook his head in disbelief. "So she gets hit in the head and then the killer picks up a knife to finish the job? Time of death?"

"Based on my estimation, I'd say 10pm last night," answered Max.

"What about the knife?" Steve asked.

"CSU hasn't found anything yet and neither have we," Duke offered.

"Great," Steve muttered under his breath, "killer probably ditched them both somewhere. Duke, have your men and women look in every alley, every dumpster, every garbage can within a five block radius including that plaza 2 blocks from here. Leave nothing unturned. We gotta find the knife and the skillet. It's garbage day too so something has to turn up."

"Sure thing, Commander," Duke replied as he left the room to deliver the order to his officers.

"Okay," Steve started as he put his hands on his hips, "Kono, I want you to join HPD in the search for the murder weapons; Chin and Lou, go interview her family and friends and see what you can find out that might help us catch this bastard and Danny and I are going to interview the other contestants and crew to see if there was anything going on behind the scenes of the show that can assist us.

"Copy that," they all said at the same time and scattered to do their respective duties.

"So what did you find out?" Steve asked as the team reconvened at 5-0 headquarters just over an hour later.

"Well, you were right boss. We found the knife in one of the dumpsters behind 'Italianos'. The lab is testing it for prints and blood as we speak."

"The skillet?" Steve asked.

"Nothing but they're still looking," Kono answered.

"That might be harder to find. It could be hidden in plain sight and we wouldn't know it," Danny said.

"Chin? Lou?", Steve asked, turning his attention to the two men.

"Well, we interviewed the husband and he was truly shook up. Said he had no idea who would do this to his wife; said she had no enemies or recent altercations that could point to any one person," Lou offered.

Chin continued, "Wife had an affair and he moved out. The kids took it pretty hard, especially their 16 year old daughter. The son is nine and even though she cheated, he was willing to give her another chance. They were trying to work things out and things were going well apparently. They had dinner as a family on Saturday night. The daughter, Claire, said when she came back home this morning, she found her mom lying on the floor like that, naturally freaked, and ran out the door in hysterics and called HPD. We corroborated her story that she was at her friend's house the entire evening and even spent the night. Friend's mom confirmed it."

"Do we know who she cheated with? We need to check him out. Maybe he didn't like the fact that she was working things out with her husband," Steve said.

"That's a dead end Steve," Chin replied, "he has an airtight alibi. He was in L.A. on a business trip. Hotel surveillance puts him in the lobby bar at time of death."

"Okay," Steve said, exhaling slowly and shaking his head. "We talked to almost everyone connected to the show except one contestant, Amanda, who was a no-show. We're trying to get a hold of her because apparently she had a bit of a heated disagreement with Samantha but other than that everyone else said how nice and sweet she was, no other fights or disagreements behind the scene. They're all pretty upset over there; they cancelled filming today."

Danny added, "Everyone's alibi checks out too, so unless this Amanda lead turns up anything, we've hit a dead end too."

"Look, we've got results from the knife still pending; let's not give up hope just yet," Kono assured them.

"In the meantime, you guys go interview the neighbours and see if they saw anything suspicious in the last few days," Steve said as he walked towards his office, "Danny and I will look into the husband a little deeper; he might not have been forgiving as he says he was."

His phone rang and he picked it up on the first ring.

"Ya, Kono, please tell me you have something," Steve said with a sense of urgency in his voice.

" _I wish I did Steve," Kono began, "Fong couldn't lift any prints off the knife and the only blood on it is from our victim."_

"Damn it!" Steve exclaimed, pounding his fist on the steering wheel. "We've got nothing. Amanda's alibi checks out too. She was at the hospital with her kid; he got really sick last night and she spent the night there. What about the neighbours?"

" _Nothing. They didn't see or hear anything that can help us. I'm going to have Fong look at the knife again. I'll call you back as soon as we have something."_

"Thanks Kono."

Steve disconnected the call and gripped the steering wheel tighter.

"We've got nothing Danny. Nothing. You think they'd be some of the killer's blood on the knife; they almost always get hurt stabbing someone multiple times.

"We'll get something Steve, don't worry, we always do," Danny said trying to reassure him but he wasn't so sure anymore either.

"I wanna go back and talk to the family again," Steve said. "This kill was personal. We're missing something. I'm not sure what, but my gut says we are."

"Let's do it."

"5-0, open the door," Steve said identifying himself and pounding on the door with his fist.

The husband answered the door. He was about 5'10 with black hair, deep set blue eyes, a straight nose and full lips. He was wearing dark blue jeans with a light grey T-shirt. He looked like he'd been crying.

"Did you find the killer?" he asked.

"No sir, we didn't. I wish we had better news. May we come in?", Steve asked gently. "We just have a couple of more questions we'd like to ask.

"Sure," he answered, as he opened the door all the way to allow them inside.

He led them to the back of the house and into the family room.

"Please have a seat," he offered, gesturing towards the dark green sofa.

"No, we're good thanks," Danny replied.

"Can I get you guys anything to drink? Coffee? Water?", he asked.

"No, no but thanks. We won't be long," Steve answered. "We're very sorry for your loss Mr. Newman."

"Thank you," he responded wiping a tear from the corner of his eye

"Are you sure there wasn't anyone in Samantha's life that had a beef against her? The way she was died suggests it was personal for the killer. Is there anyone you can think of."

"No, no, I honestly can't. I told those other two detectives the same thing. It's just the four of us and everyone loved her. She was so generous and had such a kind heart. I can't think of anyone who'd want to do this to her."

"Even though she had an affair?"

Danny had such a way with people sometimes Steve thought.

"Look," he started, his voice rising, "Yes, she had an affair and yes, I was devastated but that doesn't mean she wasn't a good person. To be honest with you, it was mostly my fault."

"How so?", Steve asked.

"I was always working. Sam tried to talk to me about it several times; gently trying to let me know how neglected and alone she was feeling but I didn't listen or I didn't want to listen and when I found out about the affair, she said she wanted to feel needed and loved and she wasn't getting that from me."

Steve's expression flickered to one of realization but he quickly recovered in time to ask the next question.

"So what happened next?"

"We fought. We screamed. We threw things. And then we went into counseling. It was during that time, we thought it best to live apart in order to work on our marriage and see if we could save it. And I wanted to; I love her and I always will," he said choking up, not realizing he was talking about her in the present tense, "she was everything to me."

It was at this time, that Claire walked into the room.

"Oh sorry, I didn't realize we had company," she said as she started to back out of the room.

"No, no, it's okay honey. These are detectives from 5-0; they just wanted to ask some more questions about your mom.

Steve noticed her expression change at the mention of her mom but her face instantly went back to one of sadness.

"Did you find who did it?" she asked.

"No, we didn't," Danny replied, "but we'll find him, we will," he answered as he looked at Steve. Uh-oh, he didn't like the look on Steve's face.

"What's wrong Steve?"

He lifted up his hand as a sign for Danny to stop talking.

"Claire, can you please lift your sleeves all the way?"

"Why?" she asked, getting a little nervous.

"What's going on?", Mr. Newman asked.

"Just do it," Steve commanded, his voice rising.

Feeling like she had no choice, she slowly lifted the sleeves of her T-shirt.

"How did you get those scratches?"

"Oh these," she said, looking at the red marks on her upper right arm, "my friend's cat," she finished shrugging her shoulders.

As Steve was about to ask her a follow up question, his phone rang.

"Don't move," he said as he hit the 'answer' button on his phone.

"Talk to me," he said, keeping his eyes on Clarie.

" _Hey, so Fong found something. He found what could be some of the killer's blood on the knife?"_

"But I thought that was a dead end."

" _We thought so too but the took the knife apart and found some blood inside the hilt of the knife. We're testing it as we speak."_

"Fantastic. Call me when you have something."

" _Of course."_

He disconnected the call and said, "Sorry about that. Look, we don't want to intrude anymore. We'll be in touch when we have some answers. In the meantime, if you think of anything, please give us a call," Steve said as he and Danny walked towards the door.

"Thanks," he replied, before shutting the door.

"What was that all about," Danny asked as they were buckling themselves up in the Camaro.

"I don't believe the daughter," Steve said, putting the car into drive.

"What? You think the daughter did it?", Danny asked incredulous

"I don't know Danny but something's not right."

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

"I thought this was a partnership," Danny mumbled under his breath as Steve sped through the streets of Oahu.

A couple of hours later, Steve and Danny were back at the Mr. Newman's home.

"Back already?," he asked as he let them into the house.

"Ya, we're back. We have some new information we'd like to share with you," Steve said, as he and Danny were led into the kitchen.

Claire was sitting at the kitchen table eating a sandwich.

"So, what's this new information?", Mr. Newman asked.

"It looks like your daughter here has some explaining to do" Steve answered.

"What do you mean?"

Steve and Danny could sense Claire stiffening as she slowly put her sandwich down.

"Look, I don't know how to break this to you Mr. Newman, but…" Steve paused to take a deep breath, "all the evidence points to your daughter."

"Are you freaking kidding me!", he exclaimed, looking at his daughter. "You're trying to pin this on my daughter!"

"Hey, we're not trying to 'pin this' on your daughter. You really think we want to believe a daughter could kill her own mother? All the evidence points towards Claire," Steve finished.

"I don't believe this," Mr. Newman said shaking his head in disbelief, "What's this evidence you suddenly have. I mean you had nothing just a couple of hours ago."

"Well, let's see," Steve began, "first off is that Claire's friend doesn't have a cat. How she could think we wouldn't check that out is beyond us," Steve finished shaking his head.

Danny continued, "Then there's the issue of the knife. Our lab techs found blood inside the hilt of the knife and it's a familial match to Samantha's blood, which is why we came bearing this," he concluded, waving a court order in the air, "this gives us the right to take a sample of Claire's blood and compare it to Samantha's. Not only that, but we can also compare it to the skin cells we found under her nails.

Mr. Newman slowly turned towards his daughter shocked, "Claire, how do you explain this?"

By this time, Claire was sitting straight up in her chair with her eyes wide open, "It wasn't me. I didn't do it," she said desperately.

"Then how do you explain that a neighbour saw you entering your house around 9:30pm last night?", Danny asked.

"That's not possible," Claire answered defiantly, "I was at my friend's house the entire night. She's my alibi."

"Not so fast," Danny replied, "your friend gave you up after I told her she could be charged with accessory to murder. She said you left her house just after 9 o'clock and returned around 10:30pm."

Claire's face fell as she saw her story unraveling fast. "That doesn't mean anything; I didn't do it.", she reiterated as panic lined her face.

"Oh my God, Claire! Why?", her father said, covering his face with his hands, "I don't believe it. There is no way you would do this, right Claire. Tell me this is all a big mistake."

"I think I might have the answer to that" Steve said. "Crime scene investigators found some pretty damaging items on your laptop."

"My laptop, you can't do that!"

Danny chuckled, "Yes, we can and we did."

"Seems like you were spying on your mom. We found surveillance photos in your photo album," Steve explained.

"Surveillance photos?", Mr. Newman repeated, "what the hell is going on Claire? You were spying on your mom? Why?"

"From what we could gather, Mr. Newman, your daughter didn't trust her mother not to cheat on you again. We found pictures of your wife having lunch on several occasions with an unidentified man," Steve stated matter of factly.

This new piece of information left Mr. Newman reeling as he fell back against the kitchen counter.

"Oh my God," he whispered, "she was cheating on me again?" He couldn't believe it; he didn't want to believe it.

Claire jumped out of her chair, "Yes! She was cheating on you again daddy," she screamed. "That woman had no intention of making it work. I knew she couldn't be trusted after she cheated with you on the first time so I went to confront her and she denied, denied, and denied even after I showed her the pictures I had on her. I mean, in some of them, she was kissing him on the cheek. I got so angry at her for lying even with the pictures in front of her. She said she wanted a chance to explain but I wasn't going to hear any of her pathetic excuses. And then she grabbed my arm and..", at this point her anger turned to tears, "she grabbed my arm to stop me from leaving so she could explain her side but I grabbed the first thing I could get my hands on and that was the skillet on the countertop and I, I...I hit her with it and then I don't know what happened. I just lost it, I was so angry with her for destroying our family. I don't know how I got hold of the knife and next thing I knew she was dead. Oh my God, I killed my mother," she finished as it finally hit her what she had done.

Danny shook his head and Steve hung his as Claire fell to the floor sobbing. Mr. Newman was still slumped against the kitchen counter, tears freely flowing down his face.

"What happens now?" he asked.

"We have to take her in," Steve responded gently. "We're not sure how the DA will want to handle this but we will make sure justice is served."

As Danny walked over to Claire, Steve said, "Just so you know, your mom wasn't having an affair. You should have listened to her. The man she was having lunch with was her colleague's boyfriend. He's in the travel business and she was planning a big surprise trip for all of you after she wrapped up the show."

Mr. Newman's face snapped up as did Claire's. "Oh no, Oh no, no, no…", she whimpered, as Danny led her out the door, no cuffs.

They left Mr. Newman standing in the kitchen with a vacant expression across his face.

"I don't know about you, but I need a drink after today," Danny stated as they left 5-0 headquarters and walked towards their cars.

This case was tragic in every sense of the word.

"You know what Danno? I need one too. I'll buy."

"You'll buy?", Danny repeated laughing. "Let me see your wallet."

"My wallet? Why?"

"Really, Steve, really?"

Steve laughed as he got into his truck. "I'll meet you at Tiki's."

Steve unlocked the front door of his house and threw his keys on the coffee table. He walked into the kitchen for a tall glass of cold water and quickly drank it. He rinsed and dried his glass before putting it back in the cupboard and headed upstairs to his bedroom.

Another long day. Steve was dead tired. He took a quick shower, got into bed and fell asleep as soon as he hit the pillow. He dreamed of her.

She slowly opened her eyes and surveyed her surroundings. She was in a small room with cement walls. It was dark, dingy, and reeked of urine and sweat. There was a single lightbulb dangling precariously from the centre of the ceiling. She tried to push her hair back from her face but quickly realized they were tied behind her back. She looked down at her feet and realized they were also tied up. She took a deep breath; it hurt all over. She felt like her whole body was on fire. Her ankles hurt from the chains and she tasted blood around her mouth. She tried to remember what happened but it was all so hazy.

Her mind drifted to happier thoughts. A day didn't go by when she didn't think of him. His beautiful eyes, his sexy smile, those arms that hugged her tight, those lips that kissed her so passionately and gently. God, she loved him so much. She didn't want to leave him but she had to; she had to in order to protect him and ensure his freedom.

She uttered his name, "Steve".


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

 _ **McGarrett Home (around 4am)**_

He bolted up in bed and called out her name, "Cath".

He looked to his left expecting to see her lying peacefully beside him but her side was empty. He was sweating; he rubbed his forehead trying to shake the feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach. He walked into the bathroom to wash his face. He looked up in the mirror and saw the bags under his eyes. He wasn't getting much sleep and the sleep he was getting was fitful and interrupted by thoughts of her; her sweet smile, her beautiful eyes, her soft voice, and the way she always knew just the right thing to say to him.

He got back into bed and tried to fall back asleep but it was useless. He looked over at his phone and saw it was 4am. He got out of bed and went for an extra long run trying to get her out of his head but he was never successful; she haunted him almost every single night.

He wiped the beads of sweat off his face, stomach, and back as he sat down on the chair in his backyard. He draped the towel over the back of his shoulders, leaned back and closed his eyes.

 _He was standing by the edge of the water, shirtless with his hands in the pockets of his blue shorts. She was running down the length of the beach towards him. The closer she got, the bigger his smile became. She stopped inches from his face._

" _Morning sailor.", she said with a smile._

" _Morning," he said, leaning down for a quick kiss._

" _Finish your swim?"_

" _Just a few minutes ago; how was your run?"_

" _It was good," she replied, her hair falling loosely around her face as the undid her ponytail._

" _I woke up this morning and you were already gone," he said disappointed._

" _Sorry Steve, I didn't sleep well. Bad dream and I couldn't fall back asleep._

" _Is everything okay?", Steve asked concern growing on his face._

" _Oh ya, I'm fine, just one of those random nightmares. I'm good."_

" _You sure?"_

" _Yes Steve, I'm sure," she laughed, "don't worry, it's nothing but I love you for being so concerned," she said as she got on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on his nose._

" _Okay, okay," he said nodding his head slightly._

" _It's your turn to make breakfast; I'll have some waffles with fruit please," she said as she jogged backwards towards the door._

" _Where are you going?" he asked._

" _To take a shower and oh ya, a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice," she added smiling as disappeared into the house._

" _Seriously?", he called out to her._

 _He cursed the fact that his shower was made of translucent glass; he really needed to renovate his bathroom he mused as he watched her lather her hair with shampoo. He leaned against the door jamb of the bathroom, crossing one ankle over the other and enjoyed the view for a few seconds before taking off this shorts and opening the door to join her._

 _She turned, "Hey what are you doing here, you're supposed to be making me breakfast," she said as he watched water run down her entire body._

 _He looked back up to face her, "I wanted dessert first", he said as he pulled her closer and started nuzzling behind her ear._

" _Since when does breakfast include dessert," she laughed._

" _In mine it does," he replied as he trailed kisses down her neck,_

 _She laughed again as she placed her hands flat on his chest and gently pushed him away. "Forever the charmer."_

" _Yes ma'am and don't you forget it," he said grinning from ear to ear._

 _He put his arm around her waist and pulled her close again._

 _As he pressed his lips against her, his hands traveled down her back and she melted into him._

 _They forgot all about breakfast._

… _._

He woke up with a start and stared out at the ocean. God, he missed her but he had to get it together. He tried getting back into the dating scene but his blind date with Lynne was a mitigated disaster. The two of them had nothing in common and all she did was talk about her ex-boyfriend and The Bachelor; he wanted to shoot himself with his own gun. Either that or he was going to shoot her; she was that annoying. At the end of the date, she asked when she could see him again; was she serious? Was she not on this date? He tried to let her down gently, telling her another date wasn't in the cards.

He knew he should probably give himself some time, after all he had been with Catherine on and off for almost 10 years. He let out a huge sigh, shook his head as if to get rid of his memories of her, got up and headed for the bathroom, He shaved, showered, grabbed his protein shake and phone and left for work.

 _ **Hawaii 5-0 Headquarters (10:00am)**_

"Hey you okay?", Grover asked as he entered Steve's office.

McGarrett opened his eyes "Hey Lou, ya I'm okay. Why?"

"You look beat."

"Didn't sleep well last night."

"You thinking of Catherine again?"

Steve remained silent.

"McGarrett, you gotta get over it. She's gone, she made her choice."

"Ya, I got the memo; apparently I'm not enough," he said gruffly.

"Look man, I didn''t mean to be harsh or insensitive, I get it, I do. But I need you, actually, we all need you to," he started to say pointing to Chin, Danny, and Kono standing outside chatting by the smart table, "we need you to start moving on. We're here for you; we want to help. Just tell us how.

"I appreciate it Lou," Steve replied as he slapped his hand on his desk and got up from his chair, "I'll let you know."

"That's all we ask. What about going out with Lynne again? Give it another chance."

"I'd rather run naked through poison ivy."

Lou laughed, "Don't be so dramatic. It couldn't have been that bad."

"Ya it could," Steve replied as he headed towards the door.

"Did you _see_ her?" Lou asked confused as he followed Steve out of his office.

"What do you mean 'did I see her'?" Steve asked looking back at Lou with a puzzled look.

"I mean, she's cute McGarrett," he said as they both reached the smart table where the other team members were chatting.

"What does that have to do with anything?", Steve asked raising his eyebrow

"What are you two talking about?" Danny asked.

"I'm trying to convince him to go out with Lynne again," he answered, "help me out."

"Um, no, she's a flake," Kono chimed in.

"How would you know?", Chin asked.

"Because I talked to her while she was waiting for Steve to finish up his phone call that day. She's a couple of french fries short of a happy meal. Just say no Steve.

"Thank you Kono," Steve said as he bent down slightly and spread his arms wide.

"Who cares if she's a flake, go have fun!", Danny said shrugging his shoulders, not understanding what the problem was.

"I agree," Lou said high fiving Danny.

Kono rolled her eyes and shook her head while Steve replied, "I don't consider wanting to shoot myself a good time."

"Okay fine, do what you want", Grover said in defeat, throwing up his hands.

"Anyway," Steve started, "I just came out to say hi and now I have to get back to work, I suggest you guys do the same."

"I gotta go, it's Career Day at Gracie's school. I should be back in an hour or so," Danny stated as he walked towards the door, "call me if we get a case."

"You know it," Steve replied as he headed back to his office.

 _ **McGarrett's office (11:30am)**_

He threw his pen down on his desk and vigorously rubbed his eyes. He was so goddamn tired. He needed a coffee, badly.

He got up from his desk to grab a cup when he saw Chin heading towards his office.

Chin rapped on the door once and opened it, "Hey Steve, you gotta a minute?"

"Of course, what's up?"

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I know what the others are saying but I personally think you should take your time. I know it's not the same as what I went through, but when I lost Malia, I was devastated. I didn't think I'd ever be happy again but I found my way and you will too. I know Catherine really threw you for a loop by leaving again but you need to give yourself time to process all of it and heal."

"Thanks Chin, I really appreciate it. I know you're right; it's just easier said than done."

"I know," Chin said nodding his head, "but one day at a time."

Steve nodded his head as he rubbed his eyes for what he felt was the millionth time.

"Why don't you get some sleep Steve, take a nap. If there's a case, your phone is going to ring so you don't have to worry about that."

"Ya, you're probably right. I won't be good to anyone if I'm not on top of my game. It just…," his voice trailed off.

"What is it Steve?", Chin asked concern growing on his face.

"I had a bad dream last night, as if Catherine was in trouble," Steve replied biting his lower lip.

"Anything in particular?"

"No, no, just as if she needed my help."

"I'm sure she's fine Steve. She's doing aid work in Nepal. It's probably just overthinking it."

"I guess you're right."

"Okay, I'm going to get out of your way. You take that nap and if anything comes up, we will wake you," Chin assured him.

"Thanks again Chin."

"Anytime.", he replied as he left Steve's office.

Steve dropped onto the couch and immediately fell asleep.

 _He led his team to base camp. As they shuffled into the tent, they saw a flurry of activity. He looked for someone to talk to. As his eyes surveyed the room, he saw someone hunched over in the corner gathering some supplies. He called out._

" _Excuse me."_

 _She got up and turned towards him. She took his breath away._

" _Yes," she said, "how can I help you?"_

 _He continued to stare._

" _Good morning, I'm Lieutenant Hart," Freddie began, talking for his friend, "We're here…."_

" _Oh yes, you're the Navy SEAL team coming in for the rescue mission" she said, "I'm Petty Officer Catherine Rollins," she finished as she extended her hand in greeting._

 _Lieutenant Hart took her hand and shook it, "Nice to meet you Petty Officer Rollins. This here," he said pointing towards Steve, "who seems to have lost the use of his vocal chords is Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett._

" _Good morning Commander," she said turning to face him._

" _Um, um…good morning Petty Office Rollins" he stammered._

 _Freddie shook his head. He knew how his buddy got when he saw a beautiful woman. This should be interesting he thought as he heard Petty Officer Rollins tell them where they could put their gear._

" _We're looking for Commander Bennett," Steve said as he walked towards the back of the room._

" _I will go and a get him for you," Catherine replied as she disappeared around a corner._

 _He couldn't help but stare after her._

"Steve, Steve," he heard his name in the distance.

He jolted awake and sat up on the couch, "What is it?", he said looking at Chin.

"You need to see something," Chin replied with a serious look on his face.

Steve jumped off the couch and followed Chin to the 'smart' table where the rest of the team was gathered. Their faces said it all.

"What is it?", Steve asked exasperated.

"Just watch," Kono answered, as Chin played the video.

Steve watched and then he sucked in his breath as the last frame played.

He couldn't believe the face staring back at him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

 _(Somewhere in Far East Asia)_

" _Daddy, daddy," she screamed as she ran up to him._

 _He scooped her up in his arms, kissed her, and asked, "How is my sugar plum?"_

" _I'm good daddy. How are you?", she replied planting a big kiss on his cheek and practically strangling him as she wrapped her arms around his neck._

" _Much better now that I'm home for a while," he replied as he walked to the front door with her still in his arms._

 _As he entered the house, she yelled out, "Mommy, mommy, daddy's home!"_

 _Her mom rounded the corner from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a tea towel, She broke out into a huge smile as she walked towards her husband, wrapped her arms around him and kissed him._

" _How are you doing honey?", he asked._

" _I'm good darling," she answered, "how are you?"_

" _Oh I'm good, good as can be considering…", his voice trailed off._

" _Daddy, daddy, will you play with me?, she asked, shaking his shoulder._

" _Catherine, dear, let your dad have a shower and eat first," her mom said gently._

" _Ok," Catherine said, kissing her dad again._

" _I promise I'll play with you as soon as I take a shower and get some food in my stomach," he said, kissing her and setting her down on the floor._

 _He turned to look at his wife, "So, everything is good?", he asked again, as if looking for reassurance._

" _Yes, everything is fine honey," she replied as she turned around and headed back for the kitchen._

" _Where is Patrick?", he asked following her into the kitchen._

" _He's at the park with Jason, playing basketball. He should be home soon."_

 _She took a plate out from the cupboard and went to the stove where she had just finished making dinner. She filled the plate with pasta and a green salad and handed it to him. She sat down beside him._

" _You want some sugar plum?", he asked Catherine, who was now playing with her dolls at the kitchen table._

" _No, thanks Daddy. I already had dinner," she replied._

 _He turned his attention back to his wife, who asked, "So, how long are you on leave?"_

" _One week."_

" _Hmm.." she replied, as she took his free hand in hers, "I guess that is better than nothing."_

" _We will make the most of it, promise."_

 _Just then they heard the front door open and Jason's voice from the hallway, "Hey mom, I'm back. Is dad home yet?"_

" _Yes, he's here. We're all in the kitchen," she called out._

 _As Patrick walked in, his dad got up from the table and gave his son a big hug. He patted him on the back and asked, "How are you doing son?"_

" _I'm good dad," he replied, hugging his dad tightly, "how are you?"_

" _I'm great now that I'm here with my family." he answered, sitting back down, "come eat."_

 _Amelia got up from the table to get dinner for her son. "Here you go sweetie," she said, as she set the plate down in front of Patrick._

" _Thanks mom," Patrick said, as he dug into his food._

" _After dinner, let's go out back and play some soccer.", their dad said._

" _Yay!", Catherine exclaimed._

" _Sounds good to me," Patrick replied._

 _There was a knock on her door, "Can I come in sugar plum?"_

" _Yes, daddy," came the reply from the other side of the door._

 _He opened the door to her bedroom to find her in bed with a book in her hand._

" _So what are we reading tonight?", he asked, sitting down beside her._

" _The Paperbag Princess," she replied, handing him the book._

" _Ah, good choice," he said opening the book to the first page._

 _He started to read, "Elizabeth was a beautiful princess. She lived in a castle and had expensive princess clothes. She was going to marry a prince named Ronald."_

 _As he continued reading, Catherine snuggled closer to her dad and got lost in the story._

" _...'Ronald', said Elizabeth, 'your clothes are really pretty and your hair is very neat. You look like a real prince, but you are a bum.' They didn't get married after all._

" _That was the best story ever," Catherine squealed._

" _You think so?", her dad asked, setting the book on her bedside table._

" _Yes! He is such a dumb, mean, and ungrateful prince. I wouldn't marry him either," she stated emphatically, crossing her arms._

" _Oh really?", her dad said, chuckling, turning to face her._

" _Yes, really. The princess saves him and all he does is complain about how she looks? That's not a real prince!"_

" _You are absolutely right," her dad replied, kissing her on the top of her head._

" _A real prince would say 'thank you', kiss her, and marry her right away and they would live happily ever after!"_

" _Again, you are right.," he said, getting up from the bed and tucking her in. "Good night my sugar plum."_

" _Good night Daddy. I love you!", she said pulling him down and giving him a huge kiss on his cheek._

" _I love you too," he said, planting a bunch of quick kisses on her cheek._

" _Daddy!", she squealed, rubbing her cheek._

" _Get used to it. I'll be doing that every night for the rest of the week."_

 _He walked to the door, opened it, and then turned to face her again,_

" _Don't worry sugar plum, your smart, sweet, and grateful prince will come one day."_

" _Oh daddy," she said shaking her head, "you're so funny!"_

 _He blew her a kiss, turned the lights off, and closed the door._

 _Catherine fell asleep and dreamed of her prince._

She moaned and slowly opened her eyes. Dreaming about her childhood made her want to cry but she had to stay strong. She had to if she ever wanted to get out of here and see them again. She moaned again and moved her head side to side to get out the kinks.

She looked around the room again, wondering how she got here. She closed her eyes to think. The last thing she remembered was being in the market, chasing a lead. As she rounded a corner, someone threw a hood over her head and pushed her into what she thought was a van. They tied her up, knocked her out, and then brought her here, to this depilated building. She had no clue how far she was from the market since they had hit her over the head with something. She could be anywhere.

She sighed and started to move her hands and feet to get her circulation going and to also figure out how she could get out of these chains. As she was playing around with her shackles, she heard voices. They were getting louder and louder and she braced herself. The door opened and two men walked in. She turned her head to face them. The first man was about six foot five with dark cropped hair. He had blue eyes and he looked like he could fight a crocodile with his bare hands and easily win. He had a scar running down his left cheek and a tattoo of a dragon on his neck. The second man was about five foot nine with his dark brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. He had dark brown eyes and the same tattoo as Mr. Crocodile. She sucked in her breath waiting to see what they would do next.

"Well, well, well, and how are we today, Lieutenant Rollins?"

She remained silent while she stared at them.

Mr. Crocodile slowly walked up to her and knelt down to face her.

"I asked you how you were. The polite thing to do is to respond."

She remained silent. He reeked of cigarettes; she tried not to gag as his face was inches from hers.

"Looks like we got a fierce one on our hands," he laughed, looking at his friend.

"It won't last," Mr. Ponytail replied, returning his partner's laugh.

"It sure won't," Mr. Crocodile said, turning to face her again.

He reached behind her and grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled hard. She winced.

"As soon as Commander McGarrett finds out we have you, he's going to come running to rescue you. Exactly what we want."

Catherine jerked her head back down to face him, "Don't you dare touch him!", she hissed.

"Ah, and there she is! She alive, partner", Mr. Crocodile exclaimed, laughing again.

Mr. Ponytail joined in as they laughed in her face.

"Touch a hair on his body and I will kill you!", she stated.

"You're talking pretty big for someone in your situation," Mr. Crocodile stated, kicking at her chains.

"Things can change pretty quickly," Catherine spat, "don't test me!"

Mr. Crocodile chuckled as he walked towards the door where Mr. Ponytail was standing, "Well good luck with that Lieutenant."

"We'll see you soon," Mr. Ponytail said, as he opened the door. "Have fun!"

She heard them howling with laughter and as their voices and footsteps receded, Catherine was fuming. She had to find a way out at any cost.

It was the only way to ensure Steven's freedom.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

 _ **(5-0 Headquarters)**_

It was Gabriel.

"How the hell did he get back on the island without anyone knowing?", Steve asked angrily, staring at the screen.

"No idea," Kono replied exasperated.

"Well, however he did, we gotta find him," Steve said.

"Where exactly is he?", Danny asked, looking at the surveillance video.

"Looks like he's leaving the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center," Chin answered, zooming in on the frame to display the front of the mall.

"That's pretty gutsy considering his picture is splashed all over the island," Steve observed as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"What the hell is he doing in the mall?", Danny asked.

"Let's go find out," Steve said, "the rest of you, go talk to his known associates and see what, if anything, you can find out."

"Sure thing Steve," Grover started to say, "but I bet you it won't be much."

"Ya, I know Lou, but we gotta keep the pressure on," Steve said as he walked towards the door. "Let's go Danny."

"What?", Steve asked, as he was driving towards the mall.

"What, what?", Danny answered.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?", Danny replied, shrugging his shoulder and holding both palms face up as if confused.

"You have that Danno look."

"That Danno look?", he repeated, laughing.

"Yes, that Danno look; just spit it out already!"

"Okay, fine," Danny started, "but don't say I didn't warn you."

Steve shook his head, " .Out!", he said, enunciating each word for emphasis.

Danny took a deep breathe, "It's about Catherine. I really think you need to just forget about her; let it go already. She's gone, she made her choice. If she really wanted to be with you she never would have left. I'm not saying she's a bad person or I'm not implying that she doesn't love you; she said she wanted more and I think you need to accept it. I hate seeing you like this, we all do, and that's why I think you need to just cut the chord, start fresh, start new. Do you really think she's over there in Nepal pining over you. If she was, she never would have left in the first place, Steve. I know it might be hard because you were together for so long but you need to just shake it off and move on. You told her you weren't going to wait for her so why don't you put your money where you mouth is and actually move on? No one is telling you to jump into another relationship. All I'm saying is get back out there; it's been, what, 3 months since she left? I say it's about time you accept reality and get back to meeting some women. What d'ya say?

Steve glanced over at him and shook his head in a mixture of frustration and sadness, "I told Chin this and I'm going to tell you: it's easier said than done."

"I never said it was easier said than done," Danny replied, getting annoyed, "all I'm saying is you gotta start getting back to enjoying life. Go on a date, if you don't like her, move on but at least try. Okay, so you didn't like Lynne, that's fine, I get it, but that doesn't mean you stop altogether. How about you and me, we got out tonight. We'll go to the Tiki Bar, knock a few back, and have some fun."

"I'll think about it."

"Steve…", Danny started.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore. We're done!", Steve stated, slamming his hand on the dashboard.

"Fine, stay miserable for the rest of your life; see if I care," Danny mumbled as he looked out the window.

 _ **Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center (11:30am)**_

They walked up to the Information Desk and Steve knocked on the counter to get the attention of the clerk.

She turned and said, "Good afternoon, how can I be of service today?" Her name tag said 'Annie'.

Steve showed her his badge, "5-0. We need to talk to the manager of the mall. Now," he emphasized.

"Um, yes, of course," she replied. As she picked up the phone to dial her boss, Steve felt Danny nudge him. Steve looked over with a questioning glance to find Danny tilting his head in the direction of the clerk.

Steve shrugged his shoulders, confused, and mouthed, "What?"

"She's cute," Danny mouthed back.

Steve rolled his eyes and shook his head and decided to ignore Danny until the clerk was done with her call.

"My manager will be down in a minute," she informed them after she hung up the phone,

"Great, thank you very much Annie," Steve replied, giving her a smile.

"You're welcome, detective."

"Actually, he's not a detective. In fact he's a lieutenant; Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett to be exact. A decorated Navy Seal who has completed numerous dangerous missions around the world and risked his life to…..," Danny's voice trailed off as he felt Steve grab his arm.

"Don't mind my friend here Annie, he tends to ramble," Steve said, as he dragged Danny away.

"What are you doing Danny?", Steve asked annoyed.

"What? I'm just trying to get you back in the game."

"Seriously? During a case? Are you crazy?", Steve asked shaking his head and rolling his eyes.

"No time like the present," Danny replied, "Ever heard the expression, 'killing two birds with one stone', because…"

"Okay, Danny, please just stop! I can't right now," Steve replied putting a hand up, signalling him to stop talking.

Danny was just about to respond with a retort, when they saw the manager approach them.

"Gentlemen, my name is Chris Turner. I am the manager of this mall; what can I do for you?", he said extending his hand in greeting.

Steve shook his hand and said, "Mr. Turner, good to meet you. I'm Commander McGarrett and this is detective William. We're with 5-0 and we need access to your surveillance tapes. The cameras on the street picked up Gabriel Waincroft leaving the mall yesterday evening; he's a dangerous drug lord and we need to find him ASAP before he kills someone or a gang war breaks out in our city."

"Of course Commander, whatever you need," Chris nodded in agreement, "please follow me."

Chris led them down the length of the mall and then made a right turn into another hallway. He took out out his key card, swiped it, and opened the door.

"Darryl, we need to see the tapes from last night."

Darryl swiveled in his chair to face the three men. "Sure, what time?"

Chris looked over at Steve and Danny and Steve replied, "between 7 and 8 pm."

"Coming right up," Darryl answered, turning back to his screens and monitors.

He tapped his keyboard a few times and then said, "Here you go."

Steve came up to stand right behind Darryl, "Okay, I need to you fast forward slowly. I'll tell you when to stop."

"Got it."

He let the tape run for a couple of seconds and then Steve yelled, "Stop!"

Darryl hit pause and Steve said, "He's coming out of 'Blue Cabana' with a bag. Okay, where does he go next?"

Darryl hit the fast forward button again and stopped the tape when they saw Gabriel in the food court getting Pizza at 'Luigi's'.

"What is he doing?", Steve asked more to himself than anyone else.

"I don't know Steve," Danny replied, "he bought some clothes and then grabbed a slice; that's hardly criminal. Where did he go next?"

As the tape rolled, they saw Gabriel go to the ice cream store and then leave the mall.

"Did he get into a car? Take the bus?", Steve asked.

Darryl let the tape run a few seconds longer and they saw Gabriel get into a black Toyota and take off.

"Can you get the plates?"

"Sure Commander," Darryl replied as he zoomed in on the license plate of the car.

"Got it!", Steve said with some relief, "but this tells us nothing." Steve said angrily, "we know he's up to something. He didn't come back for the great weather and shaved ice."

"I don't know what to tell you Steve," Danny replied, equally frustrated. "Let's go talk to the store employees who served him and see if we can find out more information."

"Let's go. Thanks so much Chris and Darryl. We'll be in touch if we need anything else," Steve said, opening the door.

"Of course Commander; whatever you need. I hope you find this guy if he's as dangerous as you say he is," Chris said, extending his hand to Steve.

"He is very dangerous. Please alert your entire staff about this man and if he comes in again, give us a call," Steve stated as he took Chris's hand and shook it.

"Will do; I'll alert my staff right away," he replied as he shook Danny's hand.

 _ **Blue Cabana (12:00pm)**_

Steve and Danny walked into the store and headed straight for the back where the cash registers were located.

A young man was behind the counter; he was about 5"10 with shaggy brown hair and green eyes. He had a nose ring and both his arms were covered in tattoos of intricate designs.

"Hey, how can I help you guys?", he asked.

Steve moved his shirt slightly to show his badge. He immediately stood up straighter and asked, "Whatever you need officers. I'll let you, I mean I'll tell you whatever you want, you know, whatever…"

He was babbling and Steve decided to put him out of his misery, "Relax kid, we just have a couple of questions about a customer who came in a few days ago."

"Oh okay, shoot!"

"Do you remember this man?", Steve asked, showing him a picture of Gabriel on his phone.

"Ya, I remember that dude. Nice guy, really buff. He wasn't much of a talker but he was polite and nice. He bought a couple of tees and tanks."

"That's it?", Danny asked.

"Um, ya, is there supposed to be more?", the kid asked, a little confused.

"No, no. Do you remember anything else?," Steve asked, "was anyone with him, did he say anything unusual?"

"Um, no, I didn't see anyone with him. In fact, he was the only one in the store if I remember right and I don't remember him saying anything weird. Like I said, he wasn't much of a talker. He paid for his stuff and then left."

"Okay, thanks. If you think of anything else, give us a call," Steve said as he fished out a card from his pocket and handed it to the kid.

"Sure thing sir," he replied as he stuffed it into the back of his jeans.

….

 _ **Camaro (12:30pm)**_

"Well, that was a total bust," Danny said as Steve started the car.

"We got nothing we could use," Steve agreed as he put the car in reverse and headed for the exit. "Even though we have plates, I can guarantee they're not registered and he's definitely moving around, not staying in one place at the same time."

"So, what now?", Danny asked.

"We go back to 5-0 and see if the rest of the team found anything we can use to find Waincroft."

"And if we don't?"

"Why do you always have to be so negative, Danny?", Steve asked as he merged onto the highway.

"I'm just being realistic Steve. This jackass has alluded us for almost two years now; he's really good and it's making me angry; I'm just really pissed!"

"We'll find him Danny, don't worry, we will."

"Well, I'm glad you think so, I mean one of has to see the glass as half full. I just wish you could put that same attitude towards…", his voice trailed off.

"What Danny? What were you going to say?, Steve asked as he knowingly glanced at Danny.

"Nothing."

"It's not nothing. I know what you want to say, so just say it."

"Fine," Danny started as he shook his head, "I wish you'd take that same positive attitude when it comes to getting back out there. I just want to see you happy man, like I am. I'm so happy with Gabrielle and we have a good thing going; I just want to see the same for you. You deserve to be happy and I just want to see my partner and buddy smiling and laughing again, and I mean truly and genuinely from the bottom of your heart kinda happy. You know what I mean?"

"I do Danny, I really do," Steve sighed, "and I appreciate it man, I do. I appreciate knowing you want to see me happy. You just gotta let me do it my way okay?"

"Fine, I won't mention it again, well at least not for a while," Danny muttered."

Steve smiled, "I love you too buddy."

…..

 _ **5-0 Headquarters (1:00pm)**_

"So, did we get anything from Gabriel's associates?", Steve asked the rest of the team.

They were all gathered around the 'smart' table looking at a picture of Gabriel and his cronies.

"Nothing Steve," Chin replied, "Kono and I talked to his last known associates and they swear up and down they haven't seen him for a couple of months."

"Lou?", Steve directed his attention to Grover.

"Same here Steve; nothing. His former partners and thugs say they haven't seen or heard from him since May."

"Well, it was a long shot," Kono stated, "we knew they weren't going to give up their boss or in Grover's case, their former boss. These guys are dangerous and scary dudes who aren't easily intimidated."

"Well, let's shake them up a bit," Steve replied. "We need to get started on getting those search warrants before they destroy any potential evidence."

"I'm on it Steve," Chin said as he headed to his office.

"Thanks Chin. The rest of us need to go over his files with a fine tooth comb. Let's see if we can find anything in them that we might have missed or that might help us to figure out where the hell this guy is," Steve stated, as he picked up his phone.

"Who are you calling?", Danny asked.

"Jerry. He can help us go these files," Steve replied.

A few minutes later, they all scattered to their respective offices to pour over Gabriel Waincroft's case files. It was going to take a while.

….

 _ **Steve's Office (4:00pm)**_

"Did anyone find anything we can use?", Steve asked as he surveyed his team from behind his desk.

"I couldn't find anything we can use boss," Kono said, shaking her head.

"Me neither McGarrett," came Grover's reply, "nothing we can use to help us find him and it's almost a guarantee he's found a new place to hide; we just gotta find it."

"I came up empty too Steve," Chin chimed in, "but I have an idea."

"Let's hear it!", Steve said.

"Remember, when Danny and I were in L.A. last year working with NCIS on that case; the one about the mob in Japan and the drug and weapons smuggling?"

"Go on," Steve said.

"Well, Eric, one of their tech operators was trying out a new program, called Kaleidoscope. It's amazing at locating people of interest. You feed the license plate number and description of the car into the program and it scans the roads and highways until it locates the one that matches the one you're looking for."

"We definitely could use something like that right now," Kono said, as she looked around the room.

"Ya, that would definitely help us; much better than relying on luck to help us find him at this point," Steve said, "but that means I need to call Hetty, right?", he finished with a look of unease on his face.

"Wow, I never thought I'd see the day," Danny said smiling from ear to ear.

"What do you mean?", Steve asked confused.

"You, scared of something or in this case someone," Danny replied trying not to laugh.

"I'm not scared of Hetty," Steve said, "from the stories I hear, that's you."

"Chin!", Danny exclaimed, looking over at him in exasperation.

"Hey, that story was too good not to be told," Chin replied chuckling.

"Okay, fine, whatever! Good luck buddy. Go for it, call her but none of us are leaving the room," Danny stated.

Steve looked at his team; Chin was looking up at the ceiling, Kono, the floor, and Grover was looking out the window; they were all trying to suppress their laughs.

"Fine," Steve said firmly as he picked up the phone and dialled.

Steve shook his head at his team trying not to laugh himself as he waited for her to pick up the phone.

" _Yes, Commander McGarrett, how are you?", came Henrietta's voice from the other end._

Steve cleared his throat, "Yes ma'am, good afternoon."

" _Indeed it is Commander, now that you are calling. Tell me, how can I be of service to you today?"_

"Ma'am….", Steve started to say…

" _Please, call me Hetty."_

"Okay then, Hetty, my team and I need your help. We recently became aware that notorious crime lord Gabriel Waincroft is back on the island and we have nothing new to go on. We've scoured our evidence and files and we've exhausted our questioning of his former associates. We'll be doing a search of their properties but we're pretty sure we'll come up empty. We need to find him fast before another war breaks out. We'll definitely be keeping an eye on his associates. I have the police and undercover detectives keeping an eye on them but we need more. Chin Ho Kelly just told me about a new program you're using called Kaleidoscope; is there any way we could get access to that?"

" _Commander, you do realize what you're asking of me, don't you?"_

"Yes, I do ma'..ur, Hetty but I wouldn't be asking if this weren't a serious matter. This man has killed dozens of his enemies, has obvious mob connections and won't hesitate to kill innocent people. I can't stress enough the importance of finding this man. We need to find him and we need to find him quick. We think your Kaleidoscope program will do that for us."

There was a long pause and for a minute Steve thought she had hung up on him.

"Ma'am?"

" _I thought I told you to call me Hetty?"_

By this point Steve wanted to punch the wall and his team's humorous expressions were not helping.

"I'm sorry Hetty, force of habit. I don't mean to pressure you but this is a time sensitive matter. Can Eric help us?"

He heard Hetty take a deep breath before she answered, " _Yes, we will help you. I am very well aware of Mr. Waincroft's crimes and you are right; you need to catch him before any more blood is spilled, innocent or otherwise. I'll get Eric and Nell to feed the information into the program and if and when they locate him, they will contact you, after consulting with me of course."_

"Of course, Hetty, thank you very much," Steve said a little more confidently.

" _You're welcome Commander and please give a special hello to Detective William for me."_

"Will do," Steve replied looking at Danny with a huge grin, "thanks again Hetty."

" _You're welcome Commander; we'll talk soon. Goodbye."_

"Goodbye Hetty," Steve replied.

Steve hung up the phone and said, "Well, she agreed to help us so hopefully we will hear from her or Eric soon. And Danny…"

"What?!"

At this point Chin was laughing out loud as Steve relayed Hetty's message to Danny.

Danny threw his hands up in the air and walked out of Steve's office saying, "I am not scared of that woman!"

 _ **Home of Waincroft's associates (6:00pm)**_

He opened the door.

"Oh man, not you guys again. How many times do I have to tell you, we ain't seen him since a few months."

"Ya, and you're just the epitome of truth," Danny said as he shoved his way into the house.

"Hey, hey, you can't just come in without my say so."

"This says we can," Steve replied shoving the document to the man's chest, as he turned back to the street to signal the HPD officers to start the search.

 _ **An hour later…..**_

"I got nothing Steve," Danny said joining Steve on the porch.

Steve was staring off into the distance with his hands shoved in his pockets.

"Hello? Earth to Steve McGarrett," Danny said waving his hand in front of Steve's face.

"Oh, hey, ya, I heard you Danny, I got nothing either."

"You okay?"

"Ya, I'm fine. HPD came up empty as well."

Steve turned to face Kamaka who was now standing at his front door. "I told you, you wouldn't find nothing."

"Anything," Danny replied.

"What?", Kamaka said confused.

"It's 'anything', not 'nothing', you schmuck."

Steve ignored the exchange and got right in Kamaka's face. "You might have won this round but I will not give up. I will find that bastard and put him away for life!"

Kamaka shrugged his shoulders, "Be my guest," and then shut the door in their faces.

"Let's get out of here Danny."

 _ **5-0 Headquarters (8:00pm)**_

Steve was pouring over Gabriel's files for what seemed like the millionth time and he was frustrated that he couldn't find anything they could use. This was useless; he threw his pen down on his desk and stared into space; he thought of her.

He heard a soft knock on his door. He looked up to see Danny coming into his office.

"Hey, you sure you're okay? You seemed like you were a million miles away."

"I'm fine," Steve replied, sitting up straighter in his chair. "What's up?" he asked rubbing his eyes.

"Nothing, I just came in to see if you wanted to grab a drink; it's been a long and rough day and God knows I could use one."

"What about Gabrielle? I thought you two were going out tonight?"

"No, she and Grace are doing a girls night; I don't know, the mani-pedi thing and a movie and dinner I think."

"Ah, that's nice."

"Ya, I'm really glad they get along. Gracie loves her."

"Well, that's always good," Steve said getting up from his desk.

"So, what do you say? Drinks?"

"Let's go!"

 _ **Tiki Bar (9:00pm)**_

As they sat down, Steve let out a huge sigh and rubbed his eyes again.

"So what's on your mind?", Danny asked.

"Nothing," Steve replied shaking his head slightly.

"C'mon, don't do that. I know you. What's up?"

"I've just been thinking about what you said...you know, about Cath."

"And?"

"And, I think you're right. I do need to move on and she's given me no reason to believe that she's coming back this time; I'm not enough for her and as much as that hurts, it's the truth. If she really wanted to be with me, she would but she chose something else so I gotta accept it and get on with my life. I am not a priority in her life and I can't spend the rest of my life pining for her and living off our memories."

As Danny was about to respond, the server came up to take their order.

"Good evening gentlemen. My name is Cassie and I'll be your server tonight. How are you doing?"

"We're doing good Cassie, thanks. You?", Steve asked.

"I'm good. So what can I get you to start?"

"Two beers," Steve replied.

"Coming right up."

As Cassie walked away, Danny mumbled, "Well, I might as well not be here."

"What do you mean?", Steve asked.

"She didn't even look my way. She couldn't take her eyes off you."

"Oh please Danny, stop!", Steve said shaking his head.

"Why?"

"Because; you can't just set me up with every single woman I come in touch with."

"Why not? Who's talking about setting up? There's nothing wrong with a little flirting."

Steve shook his head again as Cassie came back with their beers. She set them down on the table, looked at Steve and said, "Can I get you anything to eat?"

"Well, my friend and I," Steve started, pointing to Danny but her eyes didn't move from his, "would like the shrimp platter to start."

"One shrimp platter coming right up.", she said putting her hand on Steve's shoulder.

"See, I told you," Danny said throwing up his arms.

Steve rolled his eyes and took a sip of his beer.

 _ **Two hours later…**_

"I don't know about you, but I am full," Steve said rubbing his tummy.

"Well, that's because you eat like a Neanderthal," Danny replied.

Steve threw his napkin down on the table and ignored Danny's comment.

As Cassie was walking to their table with the bill, Steve patted around for his wallet, "Oh man, looks like I forgot my wallet in my truck."

"Of course you did," Danny stated shaking his head back and forth.

Cassie handed the bill to Steve and he said, "actually my friend is picking up the tab on this."

"Oh, that's nice of him," she replied, touching Steve on the shoulder again before leaving them alone.

Steve looked at the bill and grinned.

"What's with the goofy look?", Danny asked.

"She gave me her number."

"Of course she did," Danny said, "Now, I just hope you'll call her."

"Maybe."

"Not maybe, call her," Danny stated as he reached over and grabbed the bill from Steve to pay.

As they walked to the car a few minutes later, Danny handed the bill back to Steve and said, "Call her."

"Good night Danny and thanks for dinner," Steve replied walking towards his truck and ignoring his comment about Cassie.

"Call her!", Danny yelled after him.

Steve waved to him with his back to Danny and got into his car. He put the bill with Cassie's number on it in his glove box and drove home.

 _ **McGarrett Home (11:00pm)**_

He got in the shower and let the cool water run over his body. He grabbed the shampoo to wash his hair and then just stood under the water for a while letting the water do its thing. He got lost in his thoughts once again.

He dried off, put on a pair of freshly cleaned red boxers, brushed his teeth. As he got into his bed, he heard his phone vibrate on his bedside table. He picked it up and realized it was an international number; most likely from a SAT phone. Catherine. He ignored the call. He put his phone back on the nightstand, turned the lights off and sunk deeper into his covers.

He fell asleep almost immediately and didn't dream of her.


End file.
